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I have however been on record as saying that he is probably to fat to be great. His conditioning is terrible for an NFL running back.

I don't disagree there. What I _thought_ would happen is that he would play himself into shape, knowing this was his big chance to prove he deserves a huge pay raise. Some how, it never happened, presumably, because he never stayed in a game long enough to lead to an increased capacity. Had he stayed in for more carries, that alone would have caused him to get in better shape. But it never happened. It's akin to only running far enough to where you have the slightest loss of breath, and quit every time at that point. Just like JD, when not pushing one self, the body won't react and change. You aren't giving it any reason to.

All that being said, fat % alone does not determine if a back can succeed; Bettis carried far more fat than JD ever has, and he was a beast for many years, even carrying an extra 30 lbs, at least. But JB was one very unique cat; there has never been a back that big who lasted for that long. Every RB in the history of the game that weighed 250+ has had only one season of 1,000 yards, except two - Bettis and Natrone Means. Means had only 2, while JB had 7. That is a revealing stat if I have ever seen one.

I don't disagree there. What I _thought_ would happen is that he would play himself into shape, knowing this was his big chance to prove he deserves a huge pay raise. Some how, it never happened, presumably, because he never stayed in a game long enough to lead to an increased capacity. Had he stayed in for more carries, that alone would have caused him to get in better shape. But it never happened. It's akin to only running far enough to where you have the slightest loss of breath, and quit every time at that point. Just like JD, when not pushing one self, the body won't react and change. You aren't giving it any reason to.

All that being said, fat % alone does not determine if a back can succeed; Bettis carried far more fat than JD ever has, and he was a beast for many years, even carrying an extra 30 lbs, at least. But JB was one very unique cat; there has never been a back that big who lasted for that long. Every RB in the history of the game that weighed 250+ has had only one season of 1,000 yards, except two - Bettis and Natrone Means. Means had only 2, while JB had 7. That is a revealing stat if I have ever seen one.

BETTIS could have been better and done a lot more with a GREAT O-LINE. If Bettis was running behind our line the last few years he'd average 3.2 yard/carry.

BETTIS ate GARBAGE and was well overweight and couldn't recover from injuries b/c of it.

so why can fat % determine how good a coach is but not necessarily a running back?

Fat coaches can be successful. Fat backs can be. But in both cases, you probably have a better CHANCE if you aren't fat. I worked for a company that refused to hire anyone fat, (even though they would not say publicly). They said if a person lacked the discipline to not be fat, then they would be a poor employee as lack of discipline would show up in their work as well. It does seem interesting that in the same year Tomlin added a gut, that his team also lacked discipline as well (basing it on penalties, turn overs, etc.)

Fat coaches can be successful. Fat backs can be. But in both cases, you probably have a better CHANCE if you aren't fat. I worked for a company that refused to hire anyone fat, (even though they would not say publicly). They said if a person lacked the discipline to not be fat, then they would be a poor employee as lack of discipline would show up in their work as well. It does seem interesting that in the same year Tomlin added a gut, that his team also lacked discipline as well (basing it on penalties, turn overs, etc.)

And when do the players take responsibility for their actions in the course of playing the game?

People can talk all they want about penalties and turnovers and lack of focus being the coach's fault. That's horse crap. On game day the players play, and they are the ones who take stupid penalties.